Man who fled country after being charged in sex assaults is arrested

Vincenzo Lamuraglia, 22, of Lower Nazareth Twp. caught at airport.

November 25, 2007|By Tyra Braden Of The Morning Call

A Lower Nazareth Township man who fled the country after being accused of repeated sexual assaults on a teenage girl -- and of taking photos of himself having intercourse with her -- has been arrested while going through customs at a New York airport.

Vincenzo Lamuraglia, 22, was living in Lower Nazareth when he was charged in early May in two cases involving the same girl. He was free on $10,000 unsecured bail.

Northampton County pretrial services officer Arky Colon said Lamuraglia failed to show up for a preliminary hearing in mid-May. Colon said Lamuraglia had gone to an undisclosed location in Europe, where he stayed until Nov. 7.

Colon said that as Lamuraglia was passing through customs that day at John F. Kennedy International Airport, officials discovered a warrant had been issued for his arrest. Lamuraglia was detained in New York until his return to Northampton County on Tuesday. A bail hearing is set for Monday.

In one case, Lamuraglia is charged with two counts each of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault, corruption of minors and statutory sexual assault. In the second case, he faces two counts of sexual abuse of a child.

Court records give the following account:

The girl's mother notified police Oct. 10, 2006, that her 14-year-old daughter, who had been listed as a runaway, had returned home. The mother said the girl "had run away to have sex with" Lamuraglia. Police learned the girl had met Lamuraglia in January 2004 and that the two had been having sex since then. The child became pregnant.

Lamuraglia, police said, had given the girl marijuana and also gave her illegal drugs to sell for him. During the time Lamuraglia was seeing the girl, he physically assaulted her as well.

On April 9, 2007, the girl's mother called police to say that between April 6-9, Lamuraglia "was in possession of a disposable camera which contained "very graphic' pictures of the [girl] and a shoe box which contained the [girl's] underwear." The girl confirmed what her mother had said.

On April 10, police searched Lamuraglia's home and found marijuana and, under the bed, a disposable camera. "The film revealed pictures consistent with the statements provided by the victim," court documents say. "The film revealed [pictures of Lamuraglia] having sex with the victim, as well as the victim nude."

The girl told police Lamuraglia had taken the photos from April to August 2006.